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LIBRARY 





CURE 

KATiNG 



or 



OMEN 



BY 
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7-21 



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1-21 




" CHARLOTTE " 
Tlie Famous European Figure Skater. 




Spalding "Red Cover" Series or 

Athletic Handbooks 

No. 72R 




Figure Skating 
for Women 



By 

JAMES A. CRUIKSHANK 

I 

Judge International Skating Championships, New Haven, 1 9 14, an< 

New York Hippodrome Championships, 191 6; author "Winter 

Sports" and "Canoeing" in Spalding's Athletic Library 

Series ; Traveler and Lecturer on Outdoor Life. 




PUBLISHED by 



AMERICAN SPORTS PUBLISHING 
COMPANY 
L-» «— — » 21 Warren Street, New York 





pi 

v qV\ 



Copyright, 1921 

BY 

American Sports Publishing Company 
New York 



©CLA624927 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 
Introduction 5 

Chapter I 
Figure Skating for Women 9 

Chapter II 
"Charlotte's" Opinion of Us 13 

Chapter III 
Equipment 19 

Chapter IV 
Form and Grace 27 

Chapter V 
Fundamentals of Figure Skating 32 

Chapter VI 
School Figures 37 

Chapter VII 
Free Skating 77 

Chapter VIII 
Special Figures 83 



4 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Chapter IX 
Pair Skating and Dancing 86 

Chapter X 
Teaching and Professional Skating. ... 93 



INTRODUCTION 

There has been a remarkable develop- 
ment of interest in the fine sport of figure 
skating in the United States and Canada. 
Some have called this a. revival or renais- 
sance. To the writer it seems to be much 
more than a revival. The history of skat- 
ing on this continent shows no time when 
there was any such interest in the serious 
study of the principles and theory of the 
sport as there is at this time. Never has 
there been a time when so many were 
seeking in skating not merely a pastime 
for outdoors but the right form and practise 
of that pastime. The difference between 
knocking a bit of wood around the ice 
with a stick and the modern highly 
developed game of hockey is not greater 
than the difference between "skating/' 
as our fathers knew it, and the recent 
scientific analysis of skating strokes and 
balances. 



6 Spalding's Athletic Library 

This awakening has been due partly to 
the general increase of interest in outdoor 
sport all over the country, but much more 
largely has it been due to the presence in 
this country of a large group of the most 
expert figure skaters of Europe. Many of 
these experts are women, or, to speak with 
more accuracy, they are young girls, which 
makes their performances on ice, as well as 
their influence, all the more remarkable, 
for, literally, they have created an epoch 
in American sport. They did more in a 
few months to liven interest in a sport 
distinctly American in origin and popularity 
than was accomplished by all the amateur 
skaters and writers on sport during many 
years. This is not said in complaint, but 
is recorded as an interesting development 
of sport history. 

These European girls skaters demon- 
strated that here was a comparatively 
neglected field for exercise and pleasure 
which was open to every young girl and 
grown woman at all interested in athletics. 
Perhaps the influence of these foreign stars 
upon the national interest in skating has 



Spalding's Athletic Library 7 

been greater among women than among 
men. Responsive to that interest ^mong 
women, Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Bros, 
have put upon the market the identical 
pattern of skate devised and used by 
"Charlotte/' regarded by many as the 
greatest skater in the world, and to offer 
a handbook of figure skating especially 
addressed to women. 

The style of skating advocated in this 
book and the principles upon which that 
skating is based are those employed by 
"Charlotte" and other foreign experts who 
visited this country, and known all over 
the skating world as the International 
style. The United States has been the 
last country of the world to adopt a standard 
of skating and theories for the right man- 
ner of skating which have been in vogue 
in other countries for many years. This 
most important development means far 
more than at first appears. It means that 
the United States is now ranked among 
the best skating countries of the world 
and that its skaters who learn the right 
principles are equipped to compete with the 



8 Spalding's Athletic Library 

skaters of the world on equal terms. It 
means that the benefit of international 
exchange of skating literature, pictures and 
visits is available to our skaters. It means 
that we have graduated from isolation in 
skating to our rightful place as contestants 
among the best skaters of the world. 

The monumental work, "The Art of 
Skating" (Spalding Athletic Library No. 
8R), by Irving Brokaw, leading American 
amateur figure skater, is without question 
the most comprehensive and valuable work 
on figure skating ever published in any lan- 
guage. It should be in the library of every 
skater. To its carefully analyzed des- 
criptions of every important skating posi- 
tion, every expert skater as well as every 
writer on the sport is indebted. Occasional 
references are made to it in the body of this 
work. 

The author, acknowledges, also, the as- 
sistance of many professional and amateur 
skating friends for valuable comment, sug- 
gestions and photographs. 

James A. Cruikshank. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 9 

Chapter I 
FIGURE SKATING FOR WOMEN 

The Fun and Fascination of Figure 
Skating— Graceful, Healthful Ex- 
ercise—Easy of Acquirement— Phy- 
sical Benefits. 

It is n ot extravagant praise of figure 
skating to say that it is probably the 
finest sport availablt to the majority of 
American women. Women who Ka V e tried 
all athletic sports, indoor and outdoor, 
and have persisted in figure skating long 
enough to become reasonably familiar with 
its intricate fascinations, testify to its 
unrivalled attractions and benefits. Owing 
to the large number of artificial ice skating 
surfaces now available indoors, it has even 
been removed from the list of sports depend- 
ent upon the weather and can be indulged 
in whenever fancy prompts. Opportunity 
for regular practise, with uniform ice and 
temperature, is now added incentive to 
the sport and contributes much to quick 
progress in its mastery. 



10 • Spalding's Athletic Library 

It is almost a universal pastime for all 
northern climes. None but the lame or 
the blind are debarred. All ages may 
skate, from the tiny miss in brief pinafore 
to the elderly matron. The skating of a 
little girl of twelve years thrilled five 
thousand people one afternoon in the New 
York Hippodrome; the most expert w^ nan 
skater and instructor in figure bating in 
the leading rink in the United States is 
a grandmother. 

Th*?*-c should be correction of the idea 
that muscular strength is prerequisite to 
figure skating. No greater mistake is made 
concerning any sport. It requires less phy- 
sical strength than almost any other sport. 
Unlike other sports, such as tennis, golf, 
horseback riding, swimming, it can be made 
either strenuous or gentle. The supremacy 
of certain expert skaters of very slight 
physique is proof that bulk of muscle does 
not count here. If it did, little girls could 
not achieve such remarkable progress in 
three or four seasons of skating. A small 
number of beginners find their ankle mus- 
cles weak and undeveloped, but with the 



Spalding's Athletic Library 11 

right equipment of shoes and skates even 
this difficulty disappears in a single season. 

Skating is a sense of balance, readily 
learned by almost anybody, combined with 
a knowledge of prescribed poses now, for- 
tunately, set down in plain English and even 
illustrated with splendid photographs. 
Never has any sport of equal intricacy 
been favored with such splendid photo- 
graphic studies for the use of the ambitious 
student. 

The physical benefits of skating are 
many. The rinks contain almost as many 
women who are skating to "reduce" as 
they do those who are skating to develop 
additional flesh and strength. Curiously 
enough, the sport will do either. In mod- 
eration, it quickens every fibre of the body, 
makes for increased zest in living, better 
appetite and additional flesh. Vigorously 
persisted in, it will greatly reduce useless 
adipose tissue, especially around the waist 
and hips, and transform bulky fat into 
hard, firm, flesh and muscle. A casual 
study of the poses taken by the expert 
skater will convince any woman familiar 



12 Spalding's Athletic Library 

with anatomical facts that here is one 
exercise or sport which is almost as uni- 
versal in the muscles it employs as swim- 
ming and which ranks next to that sport in 
the variety of muscles employed. 

In proof of the claims for the physical 
benefits of skating one can point to any 
expert woman skater, amateur or profes- 
sional. Invariably there is lithe, smooth, 
muscular development, entire absence of 
fat, supple muscles, without a suggestion 
of the knotty bunches characteristic of 
experts in some other sports and a grace of 
carriage which is produced by no other 
sport, not even fencing. The physical 
perfection of the professional women skaters 
now visiting this country or the expert 
amateurs to be seen at many of the rinks 
bears out every claim one could make for 
the unrivalled benefits of skating. 



Spalding s Athletic Library 13 

Chapter II 

CHARLOTTE'S OPINION OP 
AMERICAN SKATING 

Greatest Woman Skater Discusses 
American Form— Friendly Comment 
of a Skilled Critic. 

We learn more from our honest critics 
than we do from our flattering friends. 
"Charlotte," whose fame and achievements 
in the skating world entitle her to have an 
opinion about every form of skating, has 
said some frank things about American 
skaters and skating which ought to have 
place in an American book of instruction 
on skating. 

The writer has the honor of the little 
star's friendship and put into shape for 
American publication her theories of skat- 
ing, since she does not speak English 
fluently. When she had visited some of the 
most popular of the American skating 
resorts she was honest enough to say just 
what she thought about the skating she 
had seen in this country. The result was a 



14 Spalding's Athletic Library 

composite. Brickbats and bouquets would 
be the best way to describe what she said. 
Naive truthfulness is the peculiar char- 
acteristic of this charming little stage 
athlete. 

"I have never seen worse general skating 
that I have seen at the public skating 
resorts in New York City and its vicinity," 
says the honest little foreigner. Then she 
tags a bouquet to the brick by saying: 
"but the energy and the enthusiasm of the 
skaters was wonderful. If only they had 
the right sort of shoes and the right pattern 
of skates and some serious training, I am 
sure they would accomplish wonders. 

"Why do they not learn that you might 
as well try to dance in rubber boots as try 
to skate in the shoes they wear? It must 
be because there has been too little educa- 
tional work on the subject of skating. I 
find that many are very willing indeed to 
take my advice as to the right skates and 
shoes. They write to me, or even come to 
see me, to learn if their ideas as to outfits 
are right. Some of them even bring their 
outfits to me for comment or criticism. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 15 

And when I tell them what to get they are 
very nice about it, very grateful and they 
start right off to get the very things I 
have described, no matter what they cost. 
I have really never seen any people so 
willing to take expert advice about skating 
as the Americans are. This very readiness 
to get the right outfits shows that they will 
become great skaters if only they will 
practise faithfully. 

"This real interest in the right equipment 
makes all the more remarkable the wrong 
equipment seen almost everywhere. I have 
seen children, in clothing which indicated 
they came from families of wealth, whose 
skating equipment was enough to send them 
to the hospital. Buttoned shoes, with 
cloth tops and thin soles incapable of fur- 
nishing proper support for vigorous foot- 
work; ninety per cent, of the grown 
people had shoes utterly unsuited to skat- 
ing. No wonder their ankles turned, put- 
ting a positively dangerous strain upon 
unused muscles of ankle and feet. 

"Fifty per cent, of the skaters were 
wearing wrong size skates. Some of the 



16 Spalding's Athletic Library 

skates must have been grandpa's, they 
were so large. Occasionally the skates 
were much too short, although this is not 
by any means as bad as it is to have them 
too long. Notice how my skates come 
just to the front edge of the shoe and pro- 
ject just a little past the heel. 

"American skating is much too fast and 
too hurried. Take your time, is my advice. 
Make the figures deliberately and make 
them large; in fact, if you make them large 
you will have to make them deliberately. 
Another bad fault of the average skater 
is looking down at the ice too much. 
Learn to look where you are going by a quick 
glance at the ice over which the stroke 
will take you, not by studying the ice 
with bowed head. Erect carriage is the 
most important feature of graceful skating. 

"Very few American skaters seem to 
practise skating on one foot. Their two 
feet are on the ice all the time, which is 
very wrong. They should practise long 
curves, with careful balance, keeping one 
foot off the ice just as long as possible. 
Anybody can skate with both feet on the 




MR BROR MEYER AND .MISS EMMY T.ERGFELT, 

Famous European Professionals, 

Giving Exhibition of Figure Skating at St. Nicholas Ice Rink, New York. 




MR. PAUL WILSON AND MISS CLAIRE CASSEL 
Of Sweden. Of New York. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 17 

ice. Learn the difficult balances of one- 
foot skating. 

"There is plenty of energy and enthus- 
iasm in this country to develop dozens of 
skaters of national championship caliber. 
But the energy must be applied rightly; 
serious, painstaking practise must be per- 
sisted in if one is to become a really good 
skater. I do not mean that one cannot 
have fun while skating. It would be 
foolish to say that to Americans, for you 
get fun out of everything. I have been 
delighted with the merry spirit with which 
everybody skates here. In Europe when 
one becomes an expert skater one takes 
it very seriously. But here I can imagine 
being a great skater and at the same 
time having great fun. 

"Your national traits come out in your 
skating. Quickness, versatility, adapta- 
bility, physical strength, athletic prowess; 
these things all show in one's skating, and 
all of them are good for skating progress. 
But there must be something more than 
these things. The serious study of the 
fundamental theories of skating strokes is 



18 Spalding's Athletic Library 

almost unknown in this country. Most 
American skaters have not the slightest 
idea of what they are doing, how they do it 
or how they would do it over again. A 
very limited number of skaters whom I 
have met here, who have visited the Swiss 
resorts in Winter, or the great rinks of 
Europe, know something of the principles 
of the various skating strokes. 

"These principles of the various strokes, 
especially the school figures, as they are 
called, because they are fundamental to 
further progress, absolutely must be mas- 
tered or all the finest enthusiasm will be in 
vain. Practise them over and over just 
as the skilled musician practises the five- 
finger exercises. Without them, there can 
be no real progress in this beautiful art. 
And I know you Americans will make the 
greatest skaters in the world, for you always 
succeed in anything you undertake/' 

Which seems to be a bunch of roses con- 
cealing a few thorns. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 19 

Chapter III 

THE EQUIPMENT 

Correct Skates and Shoes— Sugges- 
tions for Dress— Rinks and Ponds. 

There are few sports in which the right 
equipment plays so large a part as it does 
in figure skating. The entire weight of 
the body is sustained for some time, and 
over a wide expanse of ice, by the muscles 
of one ankle. This ankle must itself be 
sufficiently supported by the shoe to be 
both rigid and yet flexible while sustaining 
the weight of the whole body balanced on a 
knife edge of steel. The importance of 
right shoes and right skates is apparent. 
The shoes must be right, or they will not 
properly support the ankles, and the skates 
must be right or the balance cannot be 
sustained comfortably. 

There is now general agreement among 
expert skaters of all nations that the two- 
stanchion-round-toed skate, such as the 
"Charlotte" model for women or the "Sal- 
chow" model for men as made by Messrs, 



22 Spalding's Athletic Library 

skate and it makes a much more graceful 
appearance. 

The shoe should be most carefully chosen. 
Perhaps no shoes used in the world are so 
carefully selected as the shoes of the expert 
skater. The subject of the right shoe 
for skating has been studied most critically 
during the past few years and as a result 
there is a uniform pattern, found wherever 
expert skaters congregate, from which it is 
unwise to deviate. It is impossible to get 
skating satisfaction out of a shoe which is 
used for general street and walking pur- 
poses. In the walking shoe there must 
be room for the spread of the toes and the 
bending of the ball of the foot. In the 
skating shoe the toes must be firmly, but 
not rigidly, bound by the shoe, there is no 
bending of the ball of the foot at all, the 
ankle must be well supported in the severest 
strains it is ever called upon to bear and 
the muscles of the calf must be sustained 
in their strong play and flexing. 

Not the least important item of the cor- 
rect skating shoe is the careful design of 
the tongue, which must be rigidly bound 



Spalding's Athletic Library 23 

against the tender muscles of the instep, 
and which must therefore be padded with 
some soft yet firm material. Much serious 
damage is done through tight lacing of 
ordinary street shoes over tender insteps; 
a raw spot at this place on the foot, which 
is very frequently caused by such abuse, 
heals very slowly and stops skating for a 
long time. 

The high shoe is now regarded as the only 
correct shoe for skating. Such a shoe 
supports the leg muscles and ankles and 
makes a much more graceful appearance 
with the short skirts which are customarily 
worn. 

Much the better result is obtained by 
selecting the shoe and the skate at the same 
time with the skate attached to the shoe. 
There are very few shoemakers who know 
how to correctly set a skate on a shoe. 

In the matter of costume there is wide 
range of choice. A reasonably full skirt, 
comparatively short, is essential. Its length 
depends upon the height and figure of the 
wearer, but it should not be longer than the 
tops of the skating shoes nor shorter than 



24 Spalding's Athletic Library 

the middle of the calf of the leg. The 
material may vary all the way from leather 
to sheer silk. Some of the costumes worn 
by the best women skaters of New York 
are simple and others are elaborate. The 
costume for rink skating naturally may be 
made somewhat more striking than that 
which would be appropriate in public 
parks. The expert skater may accentuate 
the beauty of her work by a costume of 
somewhat pronounced character, while the 
beginner would be wise to employ subdued 
colors and simple design. In general it is 
true that the same costume is not suited 
to both indoor and outdoor skating. 

The chief requirements in a skating 
costume are freedom from bulkiness in 
involved movements and flowing lines in 
the big curves. To aid in these results 
silk or satin bloomers are generally worn 
over some skirt material which is not too 
stiff to take graceful lines during athletic 
movements. Leather had some vogue in 
the fashion pages of the magazines, but 
very little among expert skaters; few 
materials could be more inappropriate. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 25 

Silk sweaters, if not too long, lend them- 
selves very well to good appearance on 
skates and women of good figure find one- 
piece costumes, of the Princess type, well 
suited to the sport. The latter design of 
skating costume is very popular among 
many of the best amateur women skaters 
of Europe. Sensible, suitable skating cos- 
tumes are not subject to caprices of fashion 
and may be used for several seasons. Fur 
around the bottom of the skirt may be 
correct style, but it does not add to the 
grace of a skating costume; in fact, the 
simpler the lines of the skirt the better they 
fit into a general impression of bodily 
grace. Of course, the costume for ex- 
hibition skating and ice ballets is a matter 
of individual taste and the requirements 
of the occasion. 

Good ice is as essential to progress in 
figure skating as any other part of the 
equipment. There has been a fine response 
to the demand for artificial ice rinks all 
over the country and there are now a num- 
ber of such rinks in the United States and 



26 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Canada, climate being no longer a bar. 
Private or club tennis courts can be 
flooded and frozen when right weather 
prevails and will be found an easy and 
practical way of securing good skating. 
There should be an embankment of a few 
inches in height, made of dirt, around the 
courts and the better plan is to spray the 
water over the surface rather than flood it 
on. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 21 

Chapter IV 

FORM AND GRACE 

Hints for the Beginner— National 
Styles— The Universally Accepted 
International Style— Correct Car- 
riage and Grace. 

The beginner will need some friend at 
the first few trials of the sport. Few tests 
of friendship are severer than teaching one's 
friend to skate. Yet the sad truth must 
be recorded that unless one's teacher has 
correct form and a thorough knowledge of 
the principles of the various strokes, it will 
be well to say "thank you" and also 
"adieu" to the teacher after ability to get 
around alone is attained. 

After the beginner has ability to stand 
alone on skates and perhaps wiggle around 
the rink on both feet, the time has arrived 
to seriously study and practise correct form 
in the fundamental school figures. Bad 
teaching of these elementary figures will 
linger with the serious student of the art 
for years and perhaps never be eradicated. 



28 Spalding's Athletic Library 

It is much better to employ an expert 
teacher, of which there are many now in 
this country, for such lessons as are required 
to master the school figures. Written 
descriptions are excellent and necessary; 
they should be memorized, or even carried 
on the ice for study and practise there, 
but no written description can take the 
place of a competent teacher who will 
criticise, illustrate, and even move the 
limbs of the skater into right poses. 

There are conspicuous national traits in 
skating. The American style for many 
years has been quick, nervous, small and 
too much given to intricate figures skated 
at great speed on both feet. The English 
style has been stiff, angular, formal and 
ceremonious. The new International style, 
is the result of the visit to Europe in 1865 
of Jackson Haines, of Albany, N. Y., the 
greatest skater of his day, and improve- 
ments on that style by the greatest skaters 
of Europe during the past fifty years. It 
is now the standard for figure skating 
competitions all over the world. It is a 
comprehensive system, giving proper place 



Spalding's Athletic Library 29 

to school figures, free skating and special 
figures, skated in large size, accurately, and 
with fine emphasis on correct form and pose. 

The carriage of the head largely influences 
the appearance which a skater makes on 
the ice. From the very start learn not to 
look down at the ice; merely glance down 
occasionally. Looking at the ice is entirely 
unnecessary in well kept rinks; there are no 
sticks or obstructions to guard against, 
and no other reason for looking down 
exists except that of placing some of the 
intricate figures accurately. 

Suppleness of the body is prerequisite 
to good form in skating. The waist must 
occasionally be twisted as it is in few other 
sports. The spread-eagle figure, which con- 
sists of touching the heels and turning out 
the toes until the feet form in a straight 
line, is the basis of many important figures 
and implies a control of thigh muscles 
required in no other sport. These are 
examples of the requirements of good skat- 
ing; few beginners have them, but they 
usually come with persistent practise. 
Figure skating requires, and also teaches, 



30 Spalding's Athletic Library 

suppleness of every muscle of the body. 
Stiffness and rigidity must be fought against 
until the skater has become master of the 
strokes and even then it is doubtful whether 
the rigid pose is more effective than the 
supple one. 

The body should be held upright, with 
the shoulders generally well back and the 
chest out. Temporary bending of the 
body at the waist is often necessary and 
frequently adds to the effectiveness of the 
stroke or its grace, but it must not be long 
maintained. 

The carriage of the legs is in many 
respects the basis of the attainment of the 
correct stroke. The skating leg invariably 
should be bent at the knee, both at the 
beginning of the stroke, where initial force 
is established, and throughout the figure. 
There will be many times when the knee 
of the skating leg will need to be further 
bent or somewhat straightened to allow 
fall and rise of the body, but straight stiff- 
ness of either leg must not be permitted 
at any time. The balance leg, with the 
knees well separated, should be turned out- 



Spalding's Athletic Library 31 

ward and the toe pointed downward; this 
is done by the hip and ankle muscles. 
The knee of the balance leg always should 
be bent; generally to the same extent as 
the skating leg. 

The arms should be carried fairly high, 
or what seems high to the student of the 
new style of skating. In many movements 
they are carried but little below the level 
of the shoulders. They should be extended 
from the body, with the palms turned down 
and the fingers slightly extended, but neither 
clenched nor spread out like claws. 

Mere description of good form in any 
sport is only partial aid to its attainment. 
The photographs in this book, probably 
the best collection of pictures of great 
women skaters ever brought together in 
one volume, should be carefully studied 
by the ambitious figure skater. The fact 
that many of the women skaters whose 
photographs appear here are theatrical 
stars, whose graceful entertainments on 
ice thrilled all Europe before they came 
here, is added reason for studying their 
carriage of head, body, legs, arms and hands. 



32 Spalding's Athletic Library 



Chapter V 

FUNDAMENTALS OF FIGURE 
SKATING 

Elementary Figures— Curve the Basis 
of Figure Skating— International 
Style Standards. 

While the fundamentals of figure skating 
are simple indeed, the ramifications and 
combinations are without number. Upon 
the foundation of a few curves, turns, 
spins and jumps there can be built up a 
skating performance of the most amazing 
variety and seeming originality. Probably 
one of the chief charms of the sport is the 
large opportunity which it contains for 
individuality of programme as well as 
individuality of style. 

Mr. George H. Browne, Cambridge, 
Mass., one of the leading authorities on 
the technique of figure skating, whose 
elaborate analyses of skating styles of 
many countries, and translations of foreign 
works on skating, have greatly enriched the 




ALFRED AND SIGRID XAKSS, 
Fancy Skaters at Hotel Biltmore Rink, New York. 

Feder, Pnoto. 




Miss Wittaker and Mr. Hoagland. 




MISS FANNY DAVIDSON, 
Of New York, whose fame is international. 

El Rose, Photo. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 



33 



literature of the sport and stimulated its 
popularity, has figured out more than 
eight thousand skating figures based upon 
a combination of the fundamental figures. 
No one skater of any country excels in all 
the different phases of the sport. Tem- 
peramental differences or physical peculiari- 
ties influence excellence of performance in 
special fields; one may incline toward great 
size of simple figures, while another may 
feel drawn toward intricate designs or 
spins. 



fi 



& o 



Plaia 
Edge. 



BOP 



Change 
of Edge. 



Bracket. 
Three. 



Loop. 





(BOFRO 

Double Three. 



iRor 

Rocker. Counte: 



rob) 

o 




Difference between Counter 
Rocker and Three. 



Difference between 
Rocker and Three. 



THE ELEMENTS AND OTHER SCHOOL FIGURE TURNS. 



34 Spalding s Athletic Library 

Fortunately, the rules for figure skating 
are now arranged so as to encourage rather 
than repress individuality of style. Some 
of the great skaters incline toward dashing, 
showy work, having small regard for the 
accuracy with which the tracings are made 
on the ice. Others pay much attention 
to that accuracy and sacrifice boldness and 
freedom for it. While there is good reason 
for uniform rules wherever figure skating 
becomes a popular pastime, nevertheless 
it is to be hoped that such rules will not 
become so rigid as to stifle the expression 
of the personality of the skater. It is quite 
permissible, at the present time, for a 
skater to develop individuality of style 
without being penalized, so long as right 
standards are followed. 

The beginner should be well grounded 
in the few essentials of style and absolutely 
sure in the performance of the basic 
figures; after that the expression of personal 
attitude toward the graceful sport is, and 
should be, encouraged. There prevailed 
in this country up to within a decade ago, 
and 'there prevails in England today, a 



Spalding s Athletic Library 35 

rigid interpretation of skating standards 
which would kill any sport. The new 
International style places emphasis on per- 
formance of the school figures, from the 
standpoint of: 

1. Correct tracing on the ice. 

2. Carriage and Movement. 

3. Size. 

4. Accurate covering of the tracing in 
repetition. 

These points are not of equal importance, 
but are marked in the descending scale 
stated. The standards for free skating 
are: 

1. Contents of the programme. 

2. Manner of performance. 

In the Free Skating programme are in- 
cluded Special Figures, original or unusual 
figures not included in school figures nor 
suited to free skating programme; difficulty 
is the important consideration in special 
figures rather than good form. 

The curve is the basis of all figure skating. 
The four edges, consisting of outside for- 
ward and outside backward, inside forward 



36 Spalding's Athletic Library 

and inside backward, are the foundation 
of all further progress in the sport. Then 
come the changes of edge, or serpentines, 
threes, double threes, loops, brackets, 
rockers, counters, one-foot eights, change- 
three, change-double-three, change-loop, 
change-bracket, three-change-three, dou- 
ble-three-change-double-three, loop-change- 
loop, bracket-change-bracket. These figures 
are known as the School Figures. 

Included as elementary figures are the 
pirouettes, jumps, cross-cuts or anvils, 
beaks, grapevines and spread-eagles. 

The American skater is especially directed 
to the fact that size is a most important 
point in correct skating. The American, 
so peculiarly given to emphasis on size in 
almost every other field, has been the one 
nation of the world to skate a small and 
cramped style. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 37 

Chapter VI 

THE SCHOOL FIGURES 

Standards of the Skating World— Im- 
portance of Correct Carriage while 
Learning Them. 

The School Figures, adopted by the In- 
ternational Skating Union, and accepted 
as standard in all parts of the world, are 
the result of years of comparison and com- 
petition among the best experts of Europe. 
Their importance as training for the sport 
cannot be over-estimated. No skater can 
be regarded as skilled until she can execute 
the school figures. In the enthusiasm to 
learn waltzing on ice, for instance, many 
women skaters neglect the study and 
practise of the school figures, forgetting 
that they are trying to learn to fly before 
they have learned to walk. 

Persistent practise in these figures will 
do more for the skater than any amount 
of time devoted to difficult, advanced 
strokes which have their basis in the 
neglected school figures. It is doubtful 



38 



Spalding's Athletic Library 



SCHOOL FIGURES 
The Schedule 



Elementary School Figures 



CIRCLES (EIGHTS). 



8 No. 
i 



Description. Value. 

ROF—LOF. 1 

RIF—LIF. 1 

ROB— LOB. 1 

RIB— LIB. 2 




SERPENTINES. 

ROIF—LIOF. 

LOIF—RIOF. 

ROIB—LIOB. 

LOIB—RIOB. 



81 



THREES. 

ROF—LOF. 
ROF—LIB. 
LOF—RIB. 
RIF—LOB. 
LIF—ROB. 



8 



DOUBLE THREES. 

ROF—LOF. 

RIF—LIF. 
ROB— LOB. 

RIB— LIB. 




8s 





LOOPS. 

Description. Value 

ROF—LOF. i 

RIF—LIF. 2 

ROB— LOB. J 

RIB— LIB. i 



BRACKETS. 

ROF—LIB. 
LOF—RIB. 
RIF—LOB. 
LIF—ROB. 



ROCKERS. 

ROF—LOB. 
LOF—ROB. 

RIF—LIB. 

LIF—RIB. 



COUNTERS. 

ROF—LOB. 
LOF—ROB. 

RIF—LIB. 

LIF—RIB. 



Abbreviations: R— Right, L— Left, F— Forward, B- Backward, O— Outwards. 
I— Inwards. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 



89 



Advanced School Figures 



8 



ONE FOOT EIGHT. 

No. Description. Value. 

24a. ROIF—LIOF. 2 

b. LOIF—RIOF. 2 

25a. ROIB—LIOB. 3 

b. LOIB—RIOB. 3 





CHANGE-THREE. 

26a. ROIF—LOIB. 2 

b. LOIF—ROIB. 2 

27a. RIOF—LIOB. 3 

b. LIOF—RIOB. 3 



CHANGE-DOUBLE 
THREE. 

28a. ROIF—LIOF. 1 

b. LOIF—RIOF. 1 

29a. ROIB—LIOB. 3 

b. LOIB—RIOB. 3 



CHANGE-LOOP. 

ROIF—LIOF. 2 

LOIF—RIOF. 2 

ROIB—LIOB. 3 

LOIB—RIOB. 3 



CHANGE-BRACKET. 

32a. ROIF—LOIB. 3 

b. LOIF—ROIB. 3 

33a. RIOF—LIOB. 3 

b. LIOF—RIOB. 3 





THREE-CHANGE-THREE. 

No. Description. Value. 

ROF—LIF. 3 

LOF—RIF. 3 

ROB— LIB. 3 

LOB— RIB. 3 



DOUBLE THREE-CHANGE- 
DOUBLE THREE. 



ROF—LIF. 
LOF—RIF. 
ROB— LIB. 
LOB— RIB. 




LOOP-CHANGE-LOOP. 
j?OF— LJF. 
LOF— J?JF. 
ROB— LIB. 



LOB— RIB. 



H 40 ;: 

^■^4 la. 



BRACKET-CHANGE- 
BRACKET. 



ROF—LIF. 
LOF—RIF. 
ROB— LIB. 
LOB— RIB. 



40 Spalding's Athletic Library 

sport and bad ethics to spend time over 
intricate movements before the fundamen- 
tals have been mastered. One of the 
leading women pair-skaters of Europe, 
after winning a championship in pair 
skating, had to withdraw from the indivi- 
dual championship, in great chagrin, be- 
cause she could not perform the simple 
school figures correctly. Without her part- 
ner, she was laughed at by tyros. She 
would better have spent a little more time 
in individual practise; even her pair-skat- 
ing would have been improved by it. 
Americans are so often accused of superfi- 
ciality by the Europeans it behooves them 
not to duplicate this curious incident. 

Every school figure should be started 
from rest. Stand still, press with the flat, 
not the toe, of one skate against the ice, 
and lunge boldly out into the figure. All 
school figures should be started on the 
right foot, since the succeeding figures 
alternate the stroke, but it is very good 
practise to start with either foot and thus 
learn the strong thrust from standing 
start, on each foot. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 



41 



The description of the various school 
figures and the manner of their execution, 
is made very compact and concise, so that 
the skater may, as the author recommends, 
cut this portion of the book out and carry 
it on the ice for guidance. This is the 
custom in the best skating centers of 
Europe and ought not to make the skater 
feel that she is taking her sport too seri- 
ously. The acquirement of skill in figure 
skating implies serious attention and per- 
sistent, studious practise. The delights of 
it will more than repay any woman for the 
study she gives it. 

Circles or Eights 

Outside Edge, Forward. 

Stand firmly on left foot, left skate across 
the line of the circle to be skated, called 
"the print,' ' shoulders turned almost flat 
with the direction, right shoulder forward. 
Bend the skating knee strongly and lunge 
forward onto it, trailing the balance leg 
well behind, slightly across "the print," 



42 Spalding's Athletic Library 




(ROF) Right outside circle, forward. 




(RIF) Right inside circle, forward. 



Spalding' s Athletic Library 43 

with knee bent and turned out, toe down 
and out, right arm curved around the 
breast about six inches from it and left 
arm extended behind, slightly above the 
level of the waist. Maintain this position 
to the center of the circle. Slowly bring 
balance leg past the skating leg, toe passing 
close to skating foot and as the balance 
foot passes the skating foot slowly swing 
the arms forward, around the body and 
across to the other side, twisting the body, 
first at the shoulders and then at the hips. 
You are then in correct position for the 
circle on the left foot. Practise most with 
the foot you are weakest on. 

Inside Edge, Forward. 

The outside edge is an unnatural balance; 
the inside edge a natural one. It may be 
practised first if desired; the writer so 
teaches his friends who take up the sport. 
He believes it the easier balance to learn 
and its acquirement encourages the be- 
ginner. The spiral usually results from 
uncorrected inside edge strokes, which 
demonstrates it naturalness of balance. 



44 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Start from rest, left skate across the line 
of the direction or print, shoulders square 
with the print, arms around to right of 
body, across the print. Lunge strongly 
onto bended skating knee, carrying bal- 
ance leg behind but inside the print about 
six inches and slightly bending balance 
knee. When about one-third of the circle 
has been skated, slowly bring balance foot 
forward, close to skating foot and slightly 
across the print, at same time moving arms 
completely around the body so that the 
left arm now extends backward. While 
the balance leg has been coming forward 
the balance changes from a forward to a 
backward pose, compensating the weight 
of the balance leg. This in both outside 
and inside edge circles. It is generally 
true that when the balance leg is outside 
the print the arms are inside and vice 
versa; but there are exceptions. The finish 
of the inside edge circles forward is a very 
pretty pose. Outside and inside circles 
should be made at least six feet in diameter 
and as much larger as the skater can 
control. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 45 

Outside Circles, Backward. 

The difficulty is to get strong push at the 
start. Do not allow yourself to make 
"running starts"; learn right, by making 
the circles small at first and gradually 
acquiring initial strength. The important 
thing in getting strong backward starts 
is the daring, risky flinging of the body 
backward onto strong backward balance. 
Mastery of this difficult start is half the 
stroke, for it is one of the easiest of the 
circles and one of the most delightful. 

Bend the toes toward each other, strike 
out from the flat of the left skate onto the 
right, with strong bending of the skating 
knee, carrying the shoulders almost square 
with the print and the arms directly over 
it, one preceding and one following the 
body; balance leg held fairly high, foot 
across the print slightly and following the 
body. When about one-half of the circle 
has been skated, slowly swing the balance 
foot forward, past the skating foot, bend 
the thighs well apart in spread-eagle posi- 
tion and flatten the shoulders in line with 
the print. 



46 Spalding s Athletic Library 




(ROB) Right outside circle, backward. 




(RIB) Right inside circle, backward. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 47 

Inside Circles, Backward. 

The most difficult of the circles. Don't 
be discouraged over your progress, or lack 
of it; nobody learns these figures with ease. 
Here again, the plunge is half the battle. 
And if you fall in this figure be consoled 
that although it is more difficult than other 
strokes, the fall is less likely to be a bad 
one. Swing the right foot in front, press 
firmly from the blade of the left skate, 
square your shoulders with the print, 
face turned out, arms over print and well 
extended, swing your right foot back and 
thrust out onto the inside edge backward. 
Balance leg follows well behind and slightly 
inside the print; when the circle is half 
skated, bring the balance foot past the 
skating foot and carry it well forward to 
the end of the stroke. The finish of this 
circle is one of the severest twists the body 
of the skater is required to learn. As the 
start of the other, or left backward, circle 
is made the head must be very quickly 
turned into the correct, opposite position. 



48 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Serpentines or Change of Edge 

Change-edge figures are very important 
and should be mastered early. They are 
skated in three-lobed eights. Thus the 
start is made on the right outside edge, a 
half circle is skated, then the change of 
edge, then a full circle on the inside edge. 
The left skate is then employed for a half 
circle on the inside edge, change of edge and 
full circle on outside edge. There is alter- 
nating start therefore on outside and inside 
edges on both feet. 

Right Outside Inside Forward. 

> Start as for right outside forward circle. 
When one-quarter of the full circle has been 
skated bring the shoulders square with the 
print and the balance foot past the skating 
foot, somewhat high, to a position well in 
front of the skating foot. Dip strongly 
on bended skating knee at the change of 
edge, then assume correct position for 
inside forward edge. The arms should be 
swung forward across the body and fairly 
close to it as change of edge occurs. 




BRACKET ON RIGHT INSIDE EDGE, FORWARD. 

Miss Katie Schmidt of New York Hippodrome. 

White, Photo. 




LOOP ON RIGHT OUTSIDE EDGE, BACKWARD 
Miss Ellen Dallerup of the New York Hippodrome. 

White, Photo. 




PAIR SKATING— OUTSIDE CIRCLE BACKWARD. 
Miss Hilda Reuckert and Miss Alice Weidemann of the New York 
Hippodrome. 



White, Photo. 



Spalding s Athletic Library 49 




(ROIF) Change of Edge or Serpentine; right outside forward, 
inside forward. 




(LI OF) Change of Edge or Serpentine; left inside forward, 
outside forward. 



50 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Left Inside Outside Forward. 

Second half of figure. Start as for in- 
side forward circle. When one-quarter of 
full circle has been skated, square shoulders 
with print, swing balance foot past and 
close to skating foot, carry it well forward 
and somewhat high, and at change of edge 
quickly swing the balance foot back past 
the skating foot, sink well on skating knee, 
straighten up and assume position for full 
circle on outside edge forward. 

Right Outside Inside Backward. 

Start as for outside circle backward. 
When a quarter of the circle is completed 
bring the balance foot slowly past the skat- 
ing foot into the correct position for the 
outward backward circle. As the change 
of edge occurs, which should be an almost 
imperceptible swaying of the body, swing 
the balance foot past the skating foot, 
in front of the body, and then back again 
to the correct position for the inside edge 
backward. 

Left Inside Outside Backward. 

Second half of figure. Strong start most 



Spalding's Athletic Library 51 




(ROIB) 



Change of Edge or Serpentine; right outside backward, 
inside backward. 




rLIOB) 



Change of Edge or Serpentine; left inside backward, 
outside backward. 



52 Spalding's Athletic Library 

important in this figure. Start as for inside 
edge backward circle. When one-quarter 
of circle is skated, bring balance foot 
slightly past skating foot and close to it. 
As the change of edge occurs bring the bal- 
ance foot back again, past the skating 
foot and over the print, maintaining this 
position until one-half of full circle has 
been skated, then bring the balance foot 
past the skating foot again, flattening out 
the hips and shoulders into correct pose 
for finish of the outside edge circle back- 
ward. The carriage of the balance foot is 
the secret of the correct performance of the 
figures. 

Threes 

A three, as skated in the 
International style, is a 
.& slight indentation in a large 
full circle, one-half of which 
is skated forward and the 
other half backward, or vice 
versa. They are fundamental to good skat- 
ing. Waltzing cannot be correctly done until 
the skater has mastered threes forward 
and backward. There are eight threes; 




Spalding s Athletic Library 53 

four forward and four backward. In each 
case the turn is a natural one and from 
one edge to the opposite edge of the same 
skate. 

Outside Forward to Inside Backward. 

Start as for outside circle, but immedi- 
ately begin to slowly turn the shoulders 
toward center, so that when one-half of 
the circle has been skated the shoulders 
are almost in line with the circle. The 
three is made by a quick turn of the 
skating foot. After it, extend the balance 
foot well ahead, over the print, as in back- 
ward inside circle. 

Inside Forward to Outside Backward. 

Start as for inside circle, with the 
shoulders turned away from the center 
of the circle. The balance foot may be 
allowed to swing around the skating foot 
as the three is made or dropped behind 
it at the turn; the former is the easier 
method; both are permissible. But there 
seems good reason, in the interests of 
uniformity at least, for the general rule 



54 Spalding's Athletic Library 




Three. Right outside forward, inside backward. 




Three. Right inside forward, outside backward. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 55 

that the balance foot should follow the 
skating foot before, during and after all 
forward threes. 

Outside Backward to Inside Forward. 

Start as for outside circle backward, 
allowing the balance foot to follow the 
skating foot, over the print, and as the 
three is made swing the balance foot 
around the skating foot, where it remains 
to the end of the figure. Another correct 
method of executing this three is to drop 
the balance foot behind the skating foot 
as the three is made; one must sink well 
on the skating knee at the three, to get 
momentum, if this method is followed. 

Inside Backward to Outside Forward. 

Most difficult of the threes. Vigorous 
start necessary. Toes must be strongly 
turned in as start is made to get thrust 
from flat of skate. Start as for inside 
circle backward but increase twist of 
shoulders away from center. Three should 
be done on back part of blade. Balance 
foot may be kept in front of skating foot 
during and after three or dropped behind 



56 Spalding's Athletic Library 




Three. Right outside backward, inside forward. 




Three, After the three, inside forward. 




Three. Left inside backward, outside forward. 



Spalding s Athletic Library 57 

it as three is made. In the case of all 
threes, the latter half of the figure should 
be skated as if it were an independent 
portion of a complete circle on that edge. 

All practise of threes should follow the 
International rules. Tnerefore, much time 
should be devoted to mastering the ar- 
rangement of their performance, which is 
rated twice as important as the threes 
already described. When the skater has 
learned the foregoing threes she should 
combine them as follows: 

Right Outside Forward — Three — Inside 
Backward; Left Inside Backward — 
Three — Outside Forward. 

Same figure, beginning on left foot. 

Right Inside Forward — Three — Outside 
Backward; Left Outside Backward — 
Three — Inside Forward. 

Same figure, beginning on left foot. 

Double Threes. 

Double threes are very pretty and not 
much more difficult than single threes. 
They are much easier forward than back- 



58 Spalding's Athletic Library 

ward and should be practised backward the 
more, therefore. There are eight of them; 
four forward and four backward. It is most 
important that the turns in all single or 
double threes be placed equally distant from 
the start of the figure; this is more diffi- 
cult in double threes than in single threes. 
The arrangement and edges are shown in 
the diagram on page 38 and should be so 
practised. There is a certain gain in power 
possible in some of the turns which makes 
a too vigorous thrust at the start a disad- 
vantage rather than an advantage. 

In the first figure, outside forward, after 
first three and when the second three is 
about to be made, the skater is on the in- 
side edge backward; bring the balance foot 
close to the skating foot and drop it lightly 
behind as the three is made, slowly bring 
it forward past skating foot, and finish in 
correct position of outside forward circle. 

For the inside forward double threes there 
must be greater bending of the skating 
knee and less turn of the body toward the 
center. In all threes, single or double, 
the skater must gradually turn shoulders, 



Spalding s Athletic Library 59 

body and hips during one edge into correct 
position for the following edge. 

When the second three, on the inside 
backward, is about to be made, the balance 
foot should be brought close to and over 
the skating foot. After that three, the 
balance foot may be carried behind the 
skating foot or forward of it; both positions 
are correct, but the position forward is 
probably the better one for rounding out 
full circle. 

Double threes backward are comparative- 
ly easy on the outside edges and very diffi- 
cult on the inside edges. Start for the out- 
side backward figure as for single threes, 
with a little less turn of the body away 
from the center. Turn the shoulders slowly 
into right position for inside forward three, 
bring the balance foot close up to skating 
foot, lightly swinging it around skating foot 
as three is made, carry it in correct inside 
edge position until second three is about 
to be made. Bring it up to and over skating 
foot just before second three, bend the 
skating knee considerably just before and 
during the three, straighten up immediately 



60 Spalding's Athletic Library 

after and finish the figure on correct out- 
side backward edge. 

Inside backward double threes require 
vigorous thrust and much bending of the 
skating knee at start. Bring balance foot 
close to skating foot at each three and carry 
it over the print throughout the figure; 
straightening up after first three will add 
momentum; the second curve of the figure 
also is a place where power can be gained. 

Double threes or a chain of threes should 
not be practised to the detriment of accur- 
acy in the single threes. 

Loops. 

Loops are as important as threes, if not 
more so. They are more difficult and re- 
quire entirely different balance. It is even 
difficult for some fairly expert skaters to 
execute threes and loops in succession, the 
balances are so contradictory. Loops should 
be long, not flat nor round like ringlets. 
The curve after the loop should be the 
same as the curve before the loop. The 
arms must not swing wide of the body as 
the loops are made or the following curve 



Spalding's Athletic Library 61 

cannot be rounded out. Loops almost 
make themselves when the balance is cor- 
rect and are not forced turns. The balance 
leg has more to do with their right execution 
than it has with other figures. 

It is better to confine practise to threes 
one day and loops another day and not try 
both figures the same session. Later there 
are, of course, combinations in which both 
threes and loops are included. 

Start the outside forward loop as for the 
outside edge circles, but twist the shoulders 
toward the center sooner than in the plain 
circles. Carry the balance leg well behind, 
over the print. Bend body and skating 
knee considerably until the loop is half 
finished, then straighten up, bring the arms 
to the sides of the body and the balance 
foot close to and around the skating foot 
as the loop is made. Carry the balance 
foot forward in line with the print and lean 
backward to finish full circle. 

Inside forward loops are started different- 
ly from the inside forward circles, since the 
body should face the center, not away from 
it. The balance foot should follow the print, 



62 Spalding s Athletic Library 




Loop. Right outside forward, loop, outside forward. 




Loop. Left inside forward, loop, inside forward. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 63 

knee bent well outward and toe downward. 
The body should have backward balance 
until half the loop is done, then forward 
balance, the balance foot meanwhile des- 
cribing a quick, small circle over the loop. 
This loop requires strong edge; the curve 
after it, very little edge. All loops are 
considerably dependent upon flexibility of 
ankle muscles. The balance foot must not 
be employed to jerk the skater out of the 
loop; a habit easily acquired and hard to 
break. 

Outside backward loops are easier, to 
many skaters, than other loops. But great 
daring is required to throw the balance 
of the body strongly backward on strong 
edge and with strongly bent skating knee 
— half the secret of these loops. All loops 
are matters of correct position over the 
loop; no amount of violent kicking of the 
balance leg will produce loops if the body 
is in wrong position. Start as for the back- 
ward outside circle with even more twisting 
of shoulders away from center and with head 
turned well around toward the spot where 
loop is to be placed. As the loop is started 



64 Spalding's Athletic Library 




Loop. Right outside backward, loop, outside backward 




Loop. Right inside backward, loop, inside backward, 




FRL. LILLY KRONBERGER, 
BUDAPEST. 

Winner World's Championship for 
Ladies, 1908, 1909, 1910, 191 1. 



FRL„ VON MERAY-HORVATH, 

BUDAPEST. 
Winner World's Championship for 

Ladies, 1912. 




HERR AND FRAU TACOBSON. 
In Pair-Skating Davos. 




Jacobsons in combined spiral 
on opposite feet. 



Gentleman on LOF; Lady on ROB. 

HFRR AND FRAU WINZER, 

ST. MORITZ. 




MR. AND MRS. J. H. JOHNSON, OF LONDON, 
Winners Championship I. S. Union, 1909, 19120 

PROMINENT EUROPEAN PAIR SKATERS. 





HERR HEINRICH BURGER AND FRL. ANNA HUBLER, 

World's Champions in Pair-Skating, 1908, 1910. 




MISS MURIEL HARRISON, 
OF LONDON. 



MRS. E. M. SYERS, 
OF LONDON 



L 




Change of edge IF to OF. 
FRAULEIN REUDSCHMIDT, OF BERLIN. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 65 

the whole body is twisted more violently 
than in any other skating stroke. The 
balance foot swings sharply around the 
skating foot, directly over it, the body 
straightens up and the correct position for 
backward outside circles assumed, with the 
head and shoulders turned well toward the 
direction. 

Inside backward loops are very difficult 
to get out of in correct balance. Start as 
for inside circles, with the head turned 
strongly away from the center. Carry the 
balance foot over the print and not too 
high. As the loop is made, flick the balance 
foot around in a small circle over the loop, 
twist the body vigorously, bring the balance 
foot out in front of the skating foot and 
let the body take a forward balance. The 
balance foot plays larger part in this loop 
than in others. 

Brackets. 

Threes are a natural 
turn; brackets a forced 
turn. They are not pretty, 

, . , , . , r Bracket and Three, show. 

but they are important ot ing difference. 







66 Spalding's Athletic Library 

themselves and as connecting figures. Nor 
are they very difficult. 

Brackets are three-turns in an opposite 
direction ; away from the center rather than 
toward it. For the threes the shoulders 
are turned toward the center; for the 
brackets they are turned away from it, 
flat with the direction or print. In all 
brackets the balance foot must be directly 
over the skating foot at the moment of the 
turn. The position known as spread- 
eagle is of fundamental importance in the 
correct execution of brackets. It should 
be practised independently. 

Start as for outside forward circle, but 
immediately begin to flatten the shoulders 
with the print and spread the thighs. 
Bring the balance foot slowly up to and over 
the skating foot. The balance should be 
on the forward part of the blade up to the 
bracket and on the back part of the blade 
after it, the bracket itself being made on 
the forward part of the blade. After the 
bracket assume correct inside backward 
position. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 67 

The complementary half of this figure 
is the inside backward bracket performed 
on the opposite foot. Start as for inside 
circle backward but with much less twisting 
of the shoulders and body away from the 
center. Flatten the shoulders and body as 
the bracket is approached, make it on the 
extreme back part of the blade and finish 
as in the outside backward circle. 

The third portion of the figure is started 
as for the inside forward circle, the shoulders 
and thighs flattened with the print, the 
bracket made on the forward part of blade 
and skating knee well bent during its 
execution. Finish as in correct position 
for outside circle backward. This easiest 
of the brackets may be practised first and 
is so placed in some competitions. 

The complementary half of foregoing 
figure is started outside backward and is 
the most difficult of them all. Start as for 
outside circle backward, but at once begin 
to flatten shoulders and thighs with the 
print by turning toward the center, not 
away from it — one of the most difficult of 
skating poses. Bring the balance foot up 



Spalding s Athletic Library 




Bracket. Right outside forward, bracket, inside backward* 




Counter. Left outside backward, counter, outside forward. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 69 

over the skating foot, make the bracket on 
the extreme backward part of the blade, 
bend the skating knee momentarily and 
straighten up into correct position for in- 
side forward circle. 

Carriage of the arms is most important 
in all brackets. As a rule, the arm leading 
may be somewhat extended, the other kept 
close to the body, when the bracket has 
been made the other, leading, arm may be 
slightly extended. Both positions aid bal- 
ance and grace of pose. A partner is an 
aid in the practise of brackets, since there 
is no reversal of direction and the first 
attempts at the figure almost require a 
helping hand. 

Rockers. 

Rockers are not much more difficult than 
brackets, but they are much more beautiful, 
perhaps the most beautiful turns on the 
ice, especially when done in large size and 
bold style. They are a comparatively new 
addition to figure skating. They are nat- 
ural turns — in the direction which the 
stroke tends — and require chiefly confidence 



70 Spalding's Athletic Library 

and pluck for their achievement; especially 
in the forward strokes. The backward 
rockers are difficult and rank high as skating 
achievements; next to the loop-change-loop 
they bring the highest marks of any of the 
school figures. They are invariably turns 
from one edge, forward, to the same edge, 
backward ; outside forward to outside back- 
ward, etc. 

Flexibility of the hip, waist and shoulder 
muscles are requisites to the rockers. Body 
and shoulders may be facing in one direction 
while the skating foot is pointed in an 
opposite one. Smoothness is the character- 
istic to seek in the rockers. Direction should 
be continuous and the turn made as part 
of a sinuous line, not as an independent, 
jerky movement of its own. 

Start as for outside forward circle and 
turn the shoulders well toward center. 
Bring balance foot over skating foot. 
Make the turn on strong edge. Keep the 
arms close to the body. Twist the should- 
ers, body and skating leg completely around, 
as on a pivot, and in the general position 
for the second portion of the figure, which 



Spalding's Athletic Library 71 

follows the turn. The head should look 
in the direction of motion before and after 
the turn. 

After the turn the balance foot is dropped 
behind the skating foot and the figure fin- 
ished as in the outside backward circle. 

The complementary half is skated out- 
side backward, rocker, outside forward. The 
difficulty is to get adequate start or pace; 
all rockers require speed. Start as for out- 
side backward circle, with the shoulders 
slightly twisted away from center. Slowly 
bring them square across the print, then 
toward center, so that at the moment of 
the rocker the body is almost in position 
for outside forward circle. The balance 
foot should be slowly brought up, so as to 
be over the skating foot at the moment of 
the rocker and gently dropped behind after 
it, the figure being finished as in outside 
forward circle. 

Rockers on inside edges are much more 
difficult. Start the inside forward rocker 
as for the inside forward circle but with 
shoulders and body turned less away from 
the center. Bring up the balance foot 



72 Spalding's Athletic Library 

close to and over the skating foot. Then 
occurs one of the most difficult skating 
positions where the skating foot and leg 
are twisted away from the body and 
shoulders until after the turn is made, 
when they will be found in right position 
for the finish of the figure on the inside 
backward edge. 

The complementary portion of this figure 
is inside backward to inside forward and 
ranks high as a skating achievement. It 
is started as for the inside backward circle; 
soon after bring the balance foot up to 
and slightly past the skating foot and twist 
the shoulders and body away from the 
center. This rocker should be done on the 
backward part of the blade and must be 
done with a quick, sharp turn. Finish as 
in the inside forward circle. 

Counters. 

Counters are similar in many / \ 

respects to rockers; the turn is in &,<-*J 
opposite direction, but the edges //£T~ ~*\ 
are employed in the same order. (;* * x °| 
It is an unnatural or forced turn. iiA / 



Spalding's Athletic Library 73 

Careful employment of the balance foot 
before, at the time of, and just after the 
turn, is in many respects the fundamental 
characteristic of counters, as it is of rockers. 
All so-called rocking turns are executed 
somewhat alike; while the rotation of the 
body is different, the sway of the body at 
the turn and the use of the balance foot are 
very similar. The concerted action of 
skating foot, balance foot, shoulders, arms, 
body and head are more important in coun- 
ters than in any other figure. The skater 
will learn in this figure how many things 
she can think of at one time. 

In all forward counters it is most im- 
portant to resist the tendency to revolve 
the shoulders toward the coming turn; not, 
as in threes and rockers, to encourage it. 

The swing of the balance foot forward, in 
front of the skating foot, then back to the 
skating foot at the moment of the turn, 
then forward after the turn to the correct 
position for the circle which follows, is 
characteristic of all these figures. It is most 
important to remember in all of these so- 
called rocking turns that the figures before 



74 S pal ding* s Athletic Library 

and after the turns must be considered in- 
dependently and yet during the first half 
of the figure the body must be so turned as 
to be ready and in correct position for the 
second portion of the figure. Flexible mus- 
cles in ankles, knees and hips are requisite 
to correct performance of these figures. 
Many of the best skaters practise these 
positions standing on the floor without 
skates. 

The backward outside counters require 
firmer edge than forward counters, slower 
drawing up of the balance foot and great 
care to have the balance foot over the skat- 
ing foot at the time of the turn. Lean back- 
ward up to the turn and bend the skating 
knee; make the turn on the forward part 
of the blade. 

Forward inside counters are started as 
for the bracket with the shoulders held 
square with the print until the turn, the 
turn made on the forward part of the blade 
with strong bending of skating knee and 
quick straightening of it afterward. 

Start with strong thrust for the inside 
backward counter, bending the skating 



Spalding's Athletic Library 75 

knee considerably until the turn, which is 
made on heel of blade; then straighten up 
and finish as in inside backward bracket. 

The advanced school figures, so-called in 
America, consist of developments and com- 
binations of the elementary school figures 
and require but very little description. 
They should not be attempted until the 
skater is fairly expert in the fundamental 
figures or the balance for those figures will 
be interfered with. They consist of the 
eight-on-one-foot, three-change-three, doub- 
le-three-change-double-three, loop-change- 
loop, bracket-change-bracket, all performed 
in single-lobed eight form; and the follow- 
ing, performed in three-lobed eight form: 
change-three, change-double-three, change- 
loop, change-bracket. It is most important 
that the skater practise these figures in 
the manner prescribed in the diagrams, 
following the procedure of the International 
style. All the single-lobed-eight figures 
are started with the school figure first and 
the change of edge last; the three-lobed 
eights are started with the change of edge 
first and the figure afterward. In all figures, 



76 Spalding's Athletic Library 

both elementary ana advanced, it is of 
primary importance that the turns be 
placed at the correct place in the axis of 
the eight and equally distant from the 
center. Power in skating the single-foot 
eight continuously is in many respects the 
most important thing for the ambitious 
skater to acquire. It is worth all the prac- 
tise any skater can give it. It should be 
industriously practised forward and back- 
ward, starting on both edges. 

To secure accuracy in the skating of all 
school figures it is a good plan to make 
marks on the ice in center and at ends of 
the figure and skate carefully to place. 
Snow heaps are good. But after deep 
grooves have been worn in one place, 
change to another, as the grooves will 
affect the stroke and alter the balance. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 77 

Chapter VII 

FREE SKATING 

Half the Importance of School Figures 
in Competitions— More Important 
in Exhibitions— The Spread-Eagle, 
Spirals, Spins, Jumps, Grapevines 

Free skating is the name given to figures 
not included in the school figures. It is 
generally done to music and often shows off 
the ability of the skater in general mastery 
of artistic or lively movements more than 
school skating. For this reason it is often 
given larger place in individual skating 
than it is entitled to. Theatrical skating, 
for instance, is almost wholly free skating, 
no school figures being introduced, except 
incidentally. 

But the really important school figures 
are the better standard of the skater's 
ability, as is shown in all competitions. The 
highest total possible in free skating must 
not exceed one-half that possible for per- 
fect performance of the school figures. Solid 



78 



Spalding's Athletic Library 



cor 






No. i. 



WF 



Cross Mohawk Jump 
LOF-ROB, ROB 
Rocker, Change 
of Edge Spiral. 




No. 4. 
ROF Spectacles to ROF Spiral. 



No. 2. 
ROF Rocker to 
- ROB Spiral. 



No. 3. 

ROF Counter to 

ROB Spiral. 




'« ROF or UP 

No. 5. 

IOF or LIF 
Spiral. 




ROB 




No. 6. 

ROF Change of 

Edge to RIF 

Spiral. 

VARIOUS FORMS OF SPIRALS. 



No. 7. 



RIF Bracket— ROB 

Bracket to RIF 

Spiral. 



Spalding s Athletic Library 79 

achievement in fundamentals rightly re- 
ceives the higher marking; otherwise a 
dashing, showy skater, incapable of skating 
the simple strokes correctly, might win 
supremacy. 

Nevertheless, the free skating programme 
should be given large place in practice. 
Not everybody wishes to make skating 
hard work and free skating may be said 
to be the play side of the sport. If Euro- 
peans over-rate the school figures then 
Americans over-rate free skating; little urg- 
ing will be required to make our skaters 
spend time at free skating. 

Simplest of the free skating numbers is 
the spiral, a fundamental figure, extremely 
graceful when well done and worth much 
practise. It should be practised forward 
and. backward on both edges, since it is 
effective alone or with a partner and the 
skater should be able to hold the pose on 
any edge and in any direction. Few strokes 
are more effective. Miss Ellen Dallerup, 
the Danish skating star of the New York 
Hippodrome, is the best exponent of this 
beautiful stroke now in this country; her 



80 Spalding's Athletic Library 

enormous spirals on inner edges forward, 
poised like a Greek runner, are illustrations 
of the splendid effectiveness of a simple 
figure exquisitely well done. 

Next in importance is the spread-eagle 
figure, upon the correct position for which 
is based many of the school figures them- 
selves and which many good skaters insist 
should be included among the school figures. 
Physical peculiarities assist some and retard 
others in acquirement of this figure, but 
almost all skaters can learn it with practise. 
It can be practised on the floor of one's 
room to good advantage, standing with 
heels against the wall and turning the feet 
out, meanwhile pressing against a chair back. 

The Double Grapevine. The Simple Gr ^~ ne . 

*o» ^a-» ^s^fr^c^ (Called in 1863 ';New York Club" 

The Philadelphia Twist. Vme,) 

Spread-Eagle Grapevine. 
The Petersburg Grapevine. 




Double Grapevine with "Cupid's 
Bow." 



"Rusty Skate" Club Grapevine. D ° uble Gra P evine with variations. 



jlfes3$^ 



Canadian Champions 



MISS CHEVALIER AND MR. SCOTT, 

Ladies' and Men's Figure Skating. 




MISS ELSBETH MULLER AND MR. GEORGE C. MULLER. 
Instructors in Fancy Skating at the Arena, Boston. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 81 

Spins on one foot, on two feet and all 
forms of whirls are most important free 
skating figures, as also the great list of 
grapevines, none of which can success- 
fully be learned from written descriptions. 
Diagrams help a little in mastery of grape- 
vines if the skater will carefully study them 
out. Jumps and pirouettes on one foot are 
also very important and the strokes which 
are known in America as Mohawks and the 
Spectacle figure or Brillen dance step. 

, Rocker _*£>* 

I * V— • Vtfv 6 " The Brillen" of Spectacle 

v *J^T*lB TN a Move. 

Fig. i. 
Here the balance foot is held 
behind while the skater makes 
the forward turn, then swings 
it in an undulating movement 
from outside to inside the 
print, then it is held behind _, e : 2 " _ 
» the employed makes .he «*- *gj » „.*&& or 
back counter turn. Spectacle Dance. 

All forms of dance steps may be used in 
free skating, but the small, jerky movements 
which properly belong to special figures 
should be avoided and the programme kept 
a harmonious and smooth arrangement of 
large, showy or intricate combinations, 




\^ ' V 



r 




82 Spalding's Athletic Library 

skated to perfect time and with ease. 
American skaters excel in free skating, yet 
they have never developed the habit of all 
good European skaters of making up a pro- 
gramme from the figures which they can 
skate best and combining it into a well- 
arranged number. Let them get away from 
the idea that this sort of thing stamps 
them as theatrical entertainers; on the con- 
trary it is an excellent method of develop- 
ing their own skill in the various strokes 
and their adaptation to each other. 

Free skating shows individuality more 
than school skating. Here one's fond- 
ness for spins, or spread-eagles or grape- 
vines may be given full play; style and form 
may be considerably effected by personal 
attitude toward the sport. It is in free 
skating that some of the most interesting 
characteristics of skaters come out. 

The standards by which free skating are 
judged are the contents of the programme, 
its difficulty and variety, and the manner of 
its performance, harmonious composition, 
sureness and carriage. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 83 

Chapter VIII 

SPECIAL FIGURES 

Few Women Attempt Them— Thier 
Importance and Interest. 

Special figures consist of those figures not 
suited to free skating and having no place 
in the school figures. They are generally 
performed on one foot and consist of 
swings of the balance foot to assist the 
execution of some small, intricate stroke. 
A few of them are not too difficult for women 
to attempt and some of them add much 
to the reputation of any skater, either man 
or woman. It is a curious fact that very 
few American women, even those who have 
skated professionally, as teachers or in 
theatricals, have devoted any time to their 
acquirement. Yet they are capable of in- 
troduction into skating with startling suc- 
cess. 

The crosscuts, of which there are a score, 
are of first importance. They may be 
described as movements in which the 
skater's body remains over one spot, or 



84 Spalding's Athletic Library 

very near it, while the skating foot performs 
an intricate figure assisted by the balance 
foot vigorously used. They are tricky 
knacks which are learned suddenly and after 
that are performed with comparative ease. 

XX SI ■ I f T 

Spectacles. Reversed Cross-cut, Cross-cut, Cross-cut, 

Spectacles. Straight top. Curved top. Intersected top. 



Reverse Cross-cut. Sanders Reverse Cross-cut. Double Anvils. 

And, further, the above fundamental parts somewhat altered 3 



I 



Diamond Cross-cut. Lebedeff Reverse Cross-cut, 

1890. 

The anvils, one of the most beautiful 
figures traced upon ice, are of the same 
description. There are many anvils; the 
first or simplest being by no means 
difficult of achievement and the others, 
which are based upon it, matters of addi- 
tional study of balance while the figure is 
being executed. There are few figures 
which the general observer of skating ad- 
mires more than the anvils. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 85 

Special figures are better illustrated than 
described and can be learned from written 
descriptions by very few skaters. Their 
interest as well as their conception may be 
understood when it is known that expert 
skaters sometimes draw intricate designs on 
paper and then "see if they can be skated." 
Designs on the tomb of Agamemnon, 
carved probably a thousand years before 
the birth of Christ, interested Mr. George 
H. Browne, the Boston skating authority, 
as possible special skating figures! Many 
special designs are drawn upon paper before 
ever they are skated. 




86 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Chapter IX 

PAIR-SKATING AND DANCING 

Social Form of Skating— Its Easy 
Acquirement— Requires Adaptabil- 
ity—The Simple Figures 

Pair-skating is the most popular form of 
skating at this time. It is the most in- 
teresting skating to watch, unless one is 
himself an expert skater, and even then it 
offers opportunity for study of the ability, 
not merely to make the various strokes, 
but also adapt one's own stroke to that of 
one's partner. Dancing on the ice threatens 
to rival dancing on ballroom floors; there 
are many women who say that ice-waltzing 
is more interesting and more delightful 
than waltzing in ballrooms. 

To do good pair-skating both partners 
must be fairly well grounded in the school 
figures; at least the forward and backward 
circles, on both edges, and threes, the 
forward brackets, counters and rockers, 
ablity to get up on the toes and understand 
the strokes known as the Mohawk. With 



Spalding's Athletic Library 87 

this equipment very interesting perform- 
ances can be given. Other school figures 
are desirable but do not often find place in 
simpler forms of pair-skating. All the danc- 
ing on ice can be done with these strokes. 
The spread-eagle stroke is very valuable in 
pair-skating and grapevine steps are effective. 

Partners should be of nearly equal weight, 
for balance in the swings. The woman 
should be shorter than the man, so that 
movements carrying the arms over the 
head may the easier be done. While a 
nervous, showy skater may tend to liven 
the style of his partners deliberate skating 
it is generally better if the partners skate 
somewhat the same style. Graceful adapt- 
ation of each other's strokes counts more 
in pair-skating than brilliant individuality. 

Learn the simpler forms of pair-skating 
hand in hand and side by side. Then try 
the positions of man skating backward and 
woman skating forward, both hands touch- 
ing, or swinging from side to side, so that 
separation occurs and right hand touches 
right hand. Then skate side by side, both 
facing forward, touching hands at the start, 



88 Sp aiding s Athletic Library 

loosing hands as the man swings behind the 
woman and joining hands as he comes to 
her side again. 

Gradually extend this latter figure into 
circles of full size, or even two circles if 
sufficient carrying power can be obtained. 
Then put a forward three in, catching 
hands immediately after it is performed, 
so that the curve may be maintained. 
At this point the partners have arrived 
where innumerable developments and com- 
binations are possible. 

Waltzing. 

To waltz on ice is the special desire of 
every woman who takes up skating. It is 
easy for almost any skater to waltz who 
can do the threes on forward and backward 
edges; good waltzing is a difficult art, 
demonstrating ability as a skater and fine 
adaptability in pair-skating. The strokes 
are very simple and need but little explana- 
tion. 

The strokes for the woman consist of a 
starting stroke on left outside backward, 
made in the middle of the large eight to 



Spalding's Athletic Library 



89 



be followed by the waltzers. Swing to left 
inside backward, then in rotation follow 
strokes on right outside backward, left 
outside forward three, right outside back- 
ward, left outside forward three, right out- 
side backward, left outside forward three, 
right outside backward, which brings her 
back to the center of the eight form and 
here she swings over to right inside back- 
ward and starts the other half of the eight, 
circling in the opposite or reverse rotation. 
She must execute a three each time she is 
at the end of the left outside forward 
stroke, which places her in position for the 



v^ 



508 





Fig. i. Fig. 2. 

The Lady's Steps. The Gentleman's Steps. " of the Pair. 
Practice in the form of an "Eight. 1 



The Overlapping Stepi 



90 Spalding's Athletic Library 

following stroke and brings her partner 
around into correct position. The second 
half of the eight form is skated in reverse 
rotation. 

There is a wave waltz, introduced into the 
United States from the Princess Rink, 
London, and the invention of Miss Muriel 
Harrison, in which the partners dip and 
rise on the skating knee and sway to the 
time of the music, instead of taking another 
stroke, which is one of the most beautiful 
forms of the ice waltz. It is not at all 
difficult, but requires care to catch the 
rhythm. 

The Bohatsch March or Ten Step, which 
is popularly skated to waltz time, is another 
very graceful and interesting figure for 
pair-skating. The writer doubts if this 
step is ever learned from printed descrip- 
tions, but it can be mastered by close atten- 
tion to the diagrams. The feet must be 
lifted very little from the ice. The positions 
are similar to those for the waltz. The 
Fourteen Step is similar to the Ten Step, 
but the fourth step by the man should be 
made on the right outside forward. The 



Spalding's Athletic Library 91 

woman's fourth step is on the left outside 
backward. Then the balance of the Ten 
Step is added. 



Crossed In 



A 



? 



LOI; 




JJ2%S^ The 3rd and ioth steps are long, 

the 2d, 5th, 7th and 9th very short. 
The Lady's Steps. The Gentleman's Steps. 

The Mohawk, or, as it is called in Europe, 
Amerikaner Waltz, is a fine figure for pair- 
skating and capable of many developments. 
Its success in the beautiful numbers skated 
by George Kerner and Cathleen Pope in 
the New York Hippodrome taught many 
American skaters that they had been neg- 
lecting a very interesting and comparativley 
easy number. The Mohawk step is shown 
in diagrams. By a change of edge it can be 
skated in eight form; spectacular jumps can 
also be introduced. Rockers and counters 
can be employed in pair-skating and are 
learned more easily with a partner than 
alone. The "Q," or change of edge, with 
a three is another fine pair-skating move- 
ment. 



92 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Hand-over-the-head figures are effective 
and comparatively easy. They may con- 
sist of the simplest forward outside circles, 
in which the hands pass over the head of 
the woman, or backward circles where both 
hands or only one hand passes over the 
head. The "Q" can be so skated and is 
most effective. 

Pair-skating should not. degenerate into 
skating with hands touching all the time. 
Let the skaters learn separating strokes,, 
such as runs, big circles which bring them 
together, some figures executed by both in 
unison, then other separating strokes. Big 
bold curves, followed by meeting and skat- 
ing together, are most effective. A circle 
in the center, around which the skaters 
revolve, touching hands, may be used ef- 
fectively as a place for meeting after in- 
dividual strokes on opposite sides of that 
center. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 93 



Chapter X 

TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL 
SKATING 

New Field for Expert Women Skaters 
— Its Requirements — Demand for 
Teachers and Stage Skaters 

The vogue of figure skating has opened 
up entirely new fields for women who be- 
come expert in it. Not in many years has 
any sport brought such a demand for women 
competent to either teach it to private 
pupils or demonstrate it by professional 
exhibitions. So great has been the demand 
that many amateurs have turned profes- 
sionals. 

There are not more than half a dozen 
expert women teachers of figure skating in 
the United States at this time and there is 
room for a hundred. Those who love the 
sport feel that the presence of competent 
teachers is necessary to its maintenance and 
development. In some cases wealthy pat- 
rons of figure skating have even arranged so 
that competent teachers should not lose 



94 Spalding's Athletic Library 

by leaving lucrative forms of employment 
to teach the graceful art. Numerous rinks 
have been constructed or are under con- 
struction in the United States; in all these 
there will be place for those who are capable 
of teaching the sport. 

Many men teachers have come to the 
United States from foreign countries and 
most of them are making great success of 
their new venture. The fees paid for in- 
struction in figure skating are unusually 
high, ranging from four dollars an hour up. 
In one case a famous woman teacher has 
been paid as high as fifteen dollars an hour. 
Another woman teacher of much fame was 
engaged by the season by one of the families 
of wealth to teach the young girls the art 
of figure skating, holding herself in readiness 
at their call and skating either in the city 
or in society skating resorts in the suburbs. 
This is a new, interesting and dignified field 
of employment for women who desire to be 
self-supporting. 

The requirements of the professional 
teacher are not that she herself shall be 
a world champion but that she shall be 



Spalding's Athletic Library 95 

familiar with the correct form of skating 
the school figures and have ability to teach 
that form. Some of the best teachers are 
not great skaters, yet their pupils show 
remarkable progress in short time. 

Nor does the work require great strength. 
The new method of teaching skating is not 
that of holding up the pupil bodily but con- 
sists of allowing the pupil to find her own 
balance and then correct errors in that bal- 
ance. The teacher must be able to illustrate 
good style of skating and the more expert 
she is the better her reputation. 

Stage or theatrical skating is now offering 
a new field for athletic young women in- 
clined toward public entertainment and 
gifted for it. The requirements are ability 
to skate well rather than great beauty of 
face or figure. When the vogue of skating 
came in there could not be found in the 
United States sufficient young women who 
could skate well to complete a small com- 
pany; they had to be imported from foreign 
countries. With the opening of many ice 
skating resorts throughout the country and 
the employment of artificial ice on the stage 



96 Spalding's Athletic Library 

as a base for theatrical entertainments, 
there is room for a great many good skaters 
in a line of employment which pays well 
and offers many attractions. 

Exhibition skating at these resorts, either 
in hotels or in rinks, is often coupled with 
teaching between the entertainments. The 
young woman who can teach skating and 
also skate well enough for theatrical work 
and ice ballets can find employment without 
much difficulty. The sort of skating which 
is required in theatrical shows, unless it is 
of solo nature, is very easy and implies 
not much more than sureness in the simple 
edges and ability to waltz. In the larger 
field of solo skating there are not many 
competitors and the salaries are commen- 
surate with the scarcity of the artists. The 
young woman who has natural talent for 
the sport and aptitude in learning its in- 
tricate developments may find it a very 
satisfactory means of livelihood. And if she 
becomes another "Charlotte/' or even learns 
to skate as well as the companions of that 
wonderful artist, she may earn a salary 
equal to a bank president's or a senator's. 



SI THE SPALDING 



)TRADE-MARK G K T Tf 



"CHARLOTTE" MODEL FIGURE SKATES 

Made by A. G. Spalding & Bros, in the Spalding Skate Factory at Chicopee, Mass. 

Genuine "Charlotte" Skates of her latest patented model are manufac- 
tured by A. G. Spalding & Bros. The premier woman figure skater of the 
wo: Id wears Spalding made skate's exclusively, and she^has given^us ex- 
clus've permission to stamp her Trade-Mark on the special "Charlotte" (Reg. 
U 3. Pat. Off ) Model Figure Skates which we are supplying to our customers. 






\% 


and 


2 Shoes 


!¥-> 


and 


3 Shoes 


3^ 


and 4 Shoes 


4Y ? . 


and 


5 Shoes 


5^ 


and 


6 Shoes 


ey 2 


and 7 Shoes 



No. CT. "Charlotte" Skate 

No. CT. "Charlotte" Model Figure Skates for women, patented design, special 
treated Synthloy steel, extra special finish, polished, nickel-plated and buffed. 
The most graceful and altogether satisfactory woman's figure skate ever manu- 
factured. Sizes as follows: 

Skate for Sizes 

Skate for Sizes 

Skate for Sizes 

Skate for Sizes 

Skate for Sizes 

Skate for Sizes 

Pair, $10.00 



The Spalding "Charlotte" Model Figure 

Skate is the style " Charlotte " wears 

exclusively. 



Our Nos. 310 or 310W 
Shoes, in combination 
with the "Charlotte" 
Model Skate, we believe 
make a really wonderful 
outfit in every respect. 



Spalding Winter Sports 
Catalogue, showing 
complete line of Skates, 
Hockey Goods, Skis, 
Toboggans. Shoes, etc., 
free upon request. 



Showing No. CT "Charlotte" Skate 

attached to 

Spalding No. 310 or No. 310W Shoes 




ATTENTION GIVEN TO 
INT COMMUNICATIONS 

. ADDRESSED TO OS 



A.G.SPALDING & BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOOK 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For Canadian price, see «pecial Canadian Catalogue 



S&THE SPALDING 



-TRADE-MARK "SSSjtv 8 



Spalding 
Expert Figure Skates 




No. RS 



A scientifically perfect figure skate, made of 
specially treated Synthloy steel, finely pol- 
ished, extra heavy nickel-plated and buffed. 



SIZES— 9^, 9%, 10, 10K and 10% 

Pair, $15.00 

We recommend that No. RS 
skates be attached to Spald- 
ing No. 300 shoes for men. 

We recommend that No. RS 
skates be attached to Spald- 
ing No. 310 shoes for women. 



Showing No. RS 
Figure Skate at- 
tached to Spald- 
ing Shoe No. 300 
for men. 




ATTENTION GIVEN TO | 

ANT COMMUNICATIONS 
ADDRESSED TO US 



A.G.SPALDING & BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STOR 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOOK 



I RICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For Canad 



ian price* see special Canadian Catalogue 



... 



ACCEPT NO 
SUBSTITUTE 



THE SPALDING (»)TRADEMARK G KIt 



"INTERCOLLEGIATE" HOCKEY SKATES 




Spalding Intercollegiate" Narrow Blade 
Expert Hockey Skate. Pair, $6.00 

Blades are of Synthloy steel, hardened 
and tempered, very special polished, 
plated and buffed. 

Sizes 9 J A, 10, \Qy 2 , II, 11^, 12 inches. 
No. XH. Spalding " Intercollegiate " 
Expert Hockey Skates. . Pair, $6.00 

Ve recommend that for women or girls No. XH We recommend that tor men or boys No. XH 
Skates be attached to Spalding Shoes No. 370. Skates be attached to Spalding Shoes No. 339. 

PECIAL NOTICE— No. XH skates listed above are built to be used on Spalding Men's Shoes 
lo. 339, or Spalding Women's Shoes No. 370, or some other style made similarly. They can- 
ot be used to good advantage on ordinary street shoes, nor with heavy skating shoes made 
ith full heels. 

"ICELAND" COMBINATION SKATES 





We recommend that for men or boys No. XF 
Skates be attached to Spalding Shoes No. 3 1 9. 



No. XF. Spalding "Iceland" Skate. Pair, $5.00 



No. XF. Spalding '"Iceland" Com- 
bination Skates. For skating shoes 
with full heels. Equally suitable 
for either hockey, rink or general 
skating. Blades of Synthite steel, 
hardened and tempered ; heavy 
nickel plating, finely polished. 
Sizes &y 2 , 9, 9/ 2 , 10, 10 V 2 , 11, 1114 
inches Pair, $5.00 

We recommend that for women or girls No. XF 
Skates be attached to Spalding Shoes No. 309. 



PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO I 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 
AOORESSED TO US 



A. G.SPALDING A BROS 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



I FOR COMPUTE LIST Of STORES 
SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 
OF THIS ROOK r 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. F« 



see tpecial Canadian Catalogue 



SffiTOE SPALDING 




TRADE-MARK GU Q A uAL N , T T E Y E! 



SPALDING COMBINATION SKATES 

Equally suitable for either Hockey, Rink or General Skating. 
Sizes supplied in either Nos. XF, XB or XA listed below: 8K. 9, 9K, 10, 10&. 11,11% inch* 




Spalding Iceland Combination Model Skate No. XF 

Blades of Synthite steel, hardened and tempered, very finely polished, nickel-plated and buff 

Plates and all parts nickel-plated and buffed, tops finely polished. 
No. XF. Spalding Arena Combination Skate. Without shoes Pair, $5 

Spalding 'Varsity Club Combination Model Skate No. XB 

Blades of Karbonite steel, nickel-plated and polished. 
No. XB. Spalding 'Varsity Club Combination Skates. Without shoes Pair, $3 




Spalding Combination Model Skate No. XA 

Blades of hardened steel, tempered. Well finished. 
No. XA. Spalding Expert Combination Skate. Without shoes 



Send for Spalding 
Catalogue of 
Winter Sports 

Equipment 



. Pair, $2. 





We recommend that for Men or Boys Nos. XD, 
XB or XA skates be attached to No. 3 1 9 shoes. 



We recommend for Women or Girls Nos. 2 
XB or XA skates be attached to No. 309 she 






PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO 
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ADDRESSED TO US 



A. G. SPALDI NG & BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPUTE LIST OF STORE 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS 8001 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. Fw Canada .«<*. *** v «d*i 



^SeTHE SPALDING 



NEW "CONTINENTAL" FIGURE SKATES 

For Rink and Fancy Skating 




[lowing Spalding "Continental " Figure Skate No. LR 
fastened to Spalding Shoe No. 336, for men. 



Spalding "Continental" Figure Skate No. LR 



No. LR. For men or women. Correct 
model Figure Skates. Blades of Synth- 
loy steel, hardened and tempered ; pol- 
ished, nickel-plated and buffed. 

Pair, $7.50 

Sizes: 8&, 9, 9H, 9%, 10, 10M, 10K. II. 
11^, 12 inches. 

We recommend that No. LR Skates be at- 
tached to No. 336 Shoes for men or boys. 
We recommend that No. LR Skates be at- 
tached to No. 350 Shoes for -women or girls. 



SPALDING "CARNIVAL" FIGURE SKATES 

For Rink and Fancy Skating 




ing "Carnival" Figure Skate No. HR 

No. HR. For men and women. Correct 
model Figure Sicates. Blades of Synthite 
steel, hardened and tempered, extra finely 
polished, plated and buffed. . Pair, $5.00 

Sizes: 8K, 9. 9V 2 , 10, 1CK, 11. \\ X A inches. 

We recom mendthatNo.HRSkatesbe attached 
to No. 3 1 9 Shoes for men or boys. 

We recommend that for women or girls, 
No. HR Skates be attached to No. 309 Shoes. 

<I1 skates listed in this book are made by A. G. Spalding & Bros, in the Spalding Skate 
\/t i Factory, Chicopee, Mass. 



PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO | 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 
- ADOjESSEQ TO US 



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STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 
SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOOK 



'RICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For c.n»dun price. *e« 



SKTHE SPALDING 




TRADEMARK SJ1 



TUBULAR STEEL RACING SKATES 

Very light weight, all tubular steel construction and nickel-plated. Every joint well reinforc< 
making them the strongest tubular racing skates manufactured. Blades made of special steel, hai 
ened and tempered. Toe and heel plates made of best partly hardened steel, trimmed to sizes 9 
9%, 10, 10!3, 10;3, 11, 1 I l/ i and 1 1 % inches. Furnished in blades of 1 5 inches. Specify size of sli 
worn when ordering. These skates are built for use with light racing shoes, Spalding No. 337 p 
ferably. Our guarantee will not cover if heavy hockey or skating shoes are used. On special ord 
we will supply the 14/^-inch tubular racing skates with toe and heel plates arranged to fit wome; 
or boys* shoes. Used by the champion speed skaters in all their races. 




Spalding Tubular Racing- Skate No. TRA attached to 
Spalding No. 337 Shoe. 



No. TRA. Spalding Steel Racing Skat 
aluminum finish. . . . Pair, $6. 

SPECIAL NOTE— Runner Steels us 
in all Spalding Skates are manuf 
tured to our exact specifications, i 
carefully analyzed when receiv< 
and are then carefully harden. 
Hardening temperatures are pyror 
ter checked, ensuring treatment tl 
is mechanically perfect. 



TUBULAR STEEL HOCKEY SKATES 




Showing 

No. TH. 



No. TH Spalding Tubular Hockey Skate attached to 
Spalding No. 339 Shoe. 



We havebeen manufacturing Tubular Hocl 
Skates now for sixteen years, each year r. 
ting in some new improvement for the ben 
of the hockey player. The 1921 Spald 
model has the endorsement of actual use 
the most famous players in Canada, in ac 
tion to many of the best in this country, v 
prefer the tubular construction. Runners 
special treated Synthloy steel, hardened a 
tempered, very tough and absolutely the b 
obtainable for the purpose. Sizes 9,'i, 9%, 
lO'A, 10?^, 1 1, 1 1 JS and 1 1 % inches. 



Spalding Tubular Steel Hockey Skates, nickel-plated. Pair, $6. 



PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO | 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 
ADDRESSED TO US 



A.G.SPALDING &, BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORE 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOOK ' 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For Canadian price, see .pecial Canadian Cataki 



SKe-THE SPALDING 



CORRECTLY DESIGNED SKATING SHOES FOR MEN 

Spalding 
Figure Skating Shoes for Men 




Made Especially for Figure Skating 

300. Expert 
Black kangaroo. 



Pair $18.00 
No. 300. Expert model. LuxuryTax 



Spalding 
" Special " Skating Shoes 

No. 336. Best quality calf. Laces low. 
Blucher cut. Special lined. Full 
heels Pair, $10.00 

Recommended particularly for use with any 
Spalding high grade skates requiring full-heel 
shoes. 

Spalding "Expert" 
Racing and Hockey Shoes 

No. 337. For racing and for particu- 
larly fast hockey players. Fine qual- 
ity kangaroo leather, very soft and 
pliable, extremely light weight ; rein- 
forced inside over ankle, laces low. 
Blucher style. Special counter sup- 
ports foot without tiring wearer. Very 
light soles Pair, $10.00 

We recommend these shoes for use with 
Spalding Tubular Racing Skates, also with any 
style racing skates made to be riveted to shoes. 

Spalding 
Lambs' Wool Tongue 



No. B. Detachable. 
A wonderful com- 
fort and conven- 
ience. (Patented 
ented January 15, 
1918. . Pair, 75c. 




No.B 



I 



A.G.SPALDING <&, BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOOI 



i »RICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. r« 



lUftldill.MiE 




IBIHI 




CORRECTLY DESIGNED SKATING SHOES FOR MEN 



No. 333 




Spalding "Championship" Hockey Shoes 

No. 339. This is a heavier weight shoe than No. 337. Fine quality leath 
Reinforced inside over ankle. Padded tongue. Special counter supports ank 
instep and arch of foot. Hard box toe special protection. Laces low. Bluer; 
cut. Large brass eyelets Pair, $10.< 

The most popular and universally satisfactory hockey shoes ever made. Recoi 
mended particularly for use with Spalding Hockey Skates, regular and tubu 
styles. Suitable also for use with any Canadian Pattern Hockey Skates. 

Spalding Hockey Shoes 

No. 333. Made after the design of our No. 337 shoes, but differing in quality 
material and construction. Light weight and substantially made. . Pair, $5. 

No. 333 Shoes can be used with any Canadian Pattern Hockey or Racing Skai 
to be riveted on. 

Spalding Men's Skating Shoes 

No. 319. Made of good quality leather, machine sewed. Padded tongue. F 
heels. Laces low. Blucher cut ; lined. Well constructed shoes. Pair, $6. 

Recommended for use with any regular Clamp Fastening Ice Skates or skai 
requiring full-heel shoes. 

All Spalding Shoes— for skating and for every sport, game and outing purpose— are made 
the Spalding Shoe Factory, Brooklyn, N. Y., where designing is an art and Quality reigns 



PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN T0| 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 
ADDRESSED TO US 



A. G. SPALDING. & BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORt 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOM 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For C«nadi»n pri.e. see .pe.i.1 Canadian Ctalos 



BBSS THE SPALDING 




TRADE-MARK Tual n , t ty es 



Spalding Skating Shoes 



It has been said that the 
success of the American ath- 
lete has been due in a great 
measure to the attention to 
detail with which he selects 
his equipment. 

Especially is this so in foot- 
wear. This was early recog- 
nized in the establishment of 
a Spalding shoe factory which 
would be devoted to the man- 
ufacture of athletic shoes ex- 
clusively and which would 
combine quality of material 
with accurate knowledge of 
specialized requirements. 
In no department of athletic sport is more care required in 
careful fitting than in skating, and especially so since the 
general use of the skate-and-shoe combination of skating 
equipment. The excellence of a perfect skate can be nullified 
by a poorly fitting or wrongly designed shoe and many 
novices lose interest in skating and become discouraged 
when, if the truth was known, the fault is often due to im- 
proper foot equipment. Each style of skating has distinct 
features and it is only in the co-ordination of skate making 
and shoe making, with years of experience and a ready access 
to the knowledge of the best exponents, that proper skating 
equipment can be produced. 

When selecting skating shoes or skates, insis* upon 
Spalding's. 

Send for latest Spalding Catalogue, showing complete eqtiip- 
ment for Skating, Skiing, Hockey and other Winter Sports. 




"ROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO | 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 
> ADDRESSED TO OS 



A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOOK 



UCES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. F«r C**du» price. M « .pccui c«n.di M Catalog. 



i wmgiffi 



SUBSTITUTE 



THE SPALDING 



TRADEMARK = 



QUALITY 



WOMEN'S COMBINATION FIGURE SKATING AND 
STREET SHOES 

Every up-to-date feature required in a really perfect shoe for figure skating 
incorporated in the make-up of Spalding figure skating and street shoes. 

Expert Model — Black Kangaroo 

No. 310. For Women. Similar in design 
No. 300 (expert men's shoe) but ££„,; t ; x $1 
made on women's lasts. . . . Rett!i$18. 

No. 310 No# 310 W. White Calf. General lines 

Women s 

Figure 

Skating 

Shoes 




not carried in stock Rett'ii$18. 



Spalding Women's Skating Shoe 

No. 360T. Tan leather, special quali 
Full heels, approved skating Luxury tax $1 
last SSSii $13. 

No. 340. Spalding Comfort Skating Sh 
high cut, full heels, special selected bis 
leather Pair, $10. 

No. 309. Same last as No. 340, but sheepsl 
black uppers Pair, $7. 

Nos. 360T, 340 and 309 Shoes, are reco 
mended for use with Spalding Hockey a 
Combination Model Skates, also with Spaldi 
Rink Skates. 



No. 370. Special quality leather; nicely lin< 
Blucher cut. Laces low. . . Pair, $10. 

No. 370 Shoes are recommended for use w 
Spalding Women's Hockey Skates. Suital 
also for use with any style Women's Hock 
Or Racing Skates made to be riveted to sho 



PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO I 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 

ADORESSED TO US 



A.G.SPALDING &, BROS 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 
SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER 
! OF THIS BOOK 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For 




OFFICIAL 

For more than forty years 
Spalding Athletic Goods 
have been the standard 
by which Quality is judged 

'Just as good " is never just 
the same 







SPALDING 

SPORT SPECIALTY SHOPS 



New York 

Chicago 

Syracuse 

Philadelphia 

Detroit 



Skating Costumes Sport Suits 

Top Coats Sweaters 

Hats Shoes 







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